Alexandra

I'll look forward to reading it, Natalia!

Did anyone else go? There were a lot of people there -- more comments would be appreciated!

There are three reviews up on danceviewtimes. Here are the links:

Program I (George Jackson):

http://www.danceviewtimes.com/2010/06/setless.html

Program 2 (George Jackson):

http://www.danceviewtimes.com/2010/06/musi...-black-box.html

Program 3 (Alexandra Tomalonis)

http://www.danceviewtimes.com/2010/06/wheres-the-ballet.html

Cable news junkies will note that Rachel Maddow closed her show with a mention of this incident.

Do they (Festival organizers, judges, ballet professionals) know the difference anymore? Just asking....

Thank you for that! We usually don't link to other message boards (we don't want to olnk to other discussions; we'd rather you talk about things here ) But this is a news thread, and we've always bent rules a bit for competitions, Olympic or otherwise, so thanks, and I hope this is of interest to some BTers.

I'd love to have some news, too. KAB has four students competing -- I'm sure there are others here who have students or kids, or children of friends, etc., and even if you don't, this is a once-in-four-years show.

If anyone is there, please report! Just knowing who makes it from round to round would be nice.

There's a review in the NYTimes today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/arts/dan....html?ref=dance

Did anyone see this?

Ironically, Lady of the Camellias, which is not considered a great ballet by any critic that I've read, seemed to sell pretty well.

Good point! This often happens.

I do not know why "Fille" doesn't sell. I know the conventional wisdom is it's the name, but it is 50 years old now and the title should have gotten around. The last time I saw the ballet in New York, I was sitting next to a very chic young couple who looked very grouchy at the beginning. When the curtain went up on the chickens, they stiffened and looked at each other with a "We're outta here!" look. But then the chickens started to dance, and the two were instantly converted. The house looked little more than half full, and I didn't see a sour face at intermission.

Dance Books recentluy announced a reprint of a book published in London in 1912 about the state of dancing which I'm finding fascinating. It's called "Modern Dance and Dancers" by J.E. Crawford Flitchy, M.A. 1912 is before there was as Modern Dance in the way we use the term today; he was using "modern" as contemporary, and these are the chapter headings:

The Ancient and Modern Attitude Towards the Dance

The Rise of the Ballet

The Heyday of the Ballet

The Decline of the Ballet

The Skirt Dance

The Serptentine Dance

The High Kickers

The Revival of Classical Dancing

The Imperial Russian Ballet

The Repertory of the Russian Ballet

The Russian Dancers

The English Ballet

Oriental and Spanish Dancing

The Revival of the Morris Dance

The Future of the Dance

I do not understand why La Fille... is not more popular with the NYC audience. Does the French title turned people off? They just don't know what they are missing.

I still feel that if ABT do it more often with the right cast, it will eventually become a favorite.

I think the French title does turn people off -- at least, that's the story. Supposedly Sol Hurok wanted to change the title to "The Farmer's Daughter," but Ashton and the RB wouldn't go for it.

I've never seen a performance where the audience didn't love "Fille," (which is, of course, a different question than whether or not it's a classic) and never understood why it's taken so long to get into the international repertory. But that doesn't mean it's not a great work. "Fille" is one of the rare ballets that was considered a great work at its birth, by critics in London, New York and (a bit later, when they took it on tour) in Russia as well.

Marc Haegeman's review of a performance of Bayadere is now up on danceviewtimes. Did anyone else see this production this time round?

La Bayadere at Paris Opera Ballet

Mindful of the centenary of Marius Petipa’s death, the Paris Opera programmed a revival of “La Bayadère” in Rudolf Nureyev’s well-known version. Nureyev’s opus ultimum, “La Bayadère” suffered less from his interferences with the choreographic schemes and dramatic concept inherited from the St. Petersburg background and has always been one of the more convincing items in his Parisian legacy. Having been mounted for most of the previous runs at the spacious Opéra Bastille the ballet was now brought back again to the stage of the Palais Garnier, where it had been premiered back in November 1992. The more intimate feel of the Garnier secures a different experience, drawing you even more into the production yet without diminishing the splendor and theatrical impact of Ezio Frigerio’s striking scenic design or Franca Squarciapino’s eye-catching costumes. I just wish they were better lit and especially the Shades Act less overexposed than it was now.

Jane Simpson now has a review in Ballet.co's Magazine:

Royal Danish Ballet

The men's programme opens on a darkened stage, empty except for some bits of lighting kit and an illuminated sign in the middle which says (in Danish) "The Dance is an art because it demands a vocation, knowledge, and skill". It's the first sentence of August Bournonville's choreographic credo, the foundation stone of this company and the perfect start to an evening like this. When the dancers appear, they're in street clothes; they read the message, and nod as if in in acknowledgment of its truth: then in a few seconds they've stripped off their glamorous trench coats and boots and are revealed as Bournonville dancers, and we're away into Bournonville Variations, a newly devised compilation of extracts from the daily Bournonville Schools, shaped by Thomas Lund and Nikolaj Hübbe into an entertaining and often exciting little ballet. Lund - who chose the extracts - doesn't make life easy for his cast, starting and ending with parts of the Pas de la Vestale, a pas de deux once danced by Bournonville himself, and which it's said that Erik Bruhn refused to dance because it was so difficult. In between, the dancing is non-stop, but broken into distinct sections - one with a Spanish flavour, for instance - and there's also a nice joke, when the sequence known as the Dark Step (because it's so complex that a black mist descends on the brains of dancers trying to learn it) is done literally in the dark, with only the flashing feet of the dancers visible in ultra-violet light. Ulrik Birkkjær is the soloist leading the cast of twelve, but the stylish technique of Alban Lendorf and Alexander Stæer, often dancing together, grabbed most of the attention.

Thanks to all of you, from an out of towner. I've really enjoyed reading this thread!

All good quesitons. Isn't all of that up to the dancer, or the producor/director?

We have a whole forum on Giselle that tackles these and other questions that you may wish to check (and feel free to respond to any thread):

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showforum=42

Do you mean www.danceviewtimes.com? There's a review of "Bayadere" up now, and one of "Lady of the 'Camelias" is in the works.

Thank you!

As the season gets going, I wanted to point out to newcomers, and remind oldcomers, of the tone of the site.

When we started this board, its purpose was to have serious conversations about BALLET, not this or that dancer's instep, teeth, or eyelashes. Remember that dancers read these boards. So please refrain from making personal swipes, and think before you write. It's easy to get carried away in the heat of battle, but self-censorship has its place.

Another thing we'd ask you to remember is that these boards are not intended to be My Favorite Dancer Booster Boards. Everyone has favorite dancers, and they might not be yours. Constantly reminding us that there has never been a more perfect dancer than X or Y (or its inverse!) sets people's teeth on edge, and will not have the desired effect.

The most important thing to remember is that this is a discussion board that welcomes a variety of opinions. The discussion evolves and nobody’s word is final. We'd ask you not to keep making the same points over and over (twice is enough; if they don't get it after reading it twice, move on.)

We want everyone to feel welcome on this and all the Ballet Talk forums. Everyone needs to feel comfortable posting. If you're looking to be Forum Leader, the place for that is not here, but in a blog. We have a blog option; it's free. If you'd rather go off-site, there are many free blog programs available.

I'm going to close this thread, as it's just a Reminder and not a discussion topic. I hope I won't have to bump it up as the season progresses!

Thank you, and enjoy the season!

Thanks for that, Anne. I've seen the Dancing Bournonville film several times and I agree with you! It was done right before the first Bournonville Festival, back in 1979, as an introduction. It's also amazing to see who they had teaching then -- it was back in the day when the company's retired stars taught in the School,even the small children's classes.

I've seen small Myrthas who were excellent, authoritative and terrifying -- Mette-Ida Kirk in Denmark, about 5 feet tall, was one.

I think the reason is that many directors don't understand the role and/or give in to dancers' demands ("I am a BALLERINA and I demand to dance only ballerina roles") and/or think that "tall" and "authoritative" are synonyms. If they explained to the uppity ballerinas that Myrtha IS a starring role, it might work.

Anne, thank you so very much for taking the time to do this! It is standard fare, but not to us There haven't been that many interviews with NH over here. Thank you again!

I agree. It still is in Paris and St. Petersburg (not sure about Moscow), but elsewhere it's often the tallest corps girl or young soloist, a "junior" role (tall being the substitute for authority). It's definitely a ballerina role, and great ballerinas have danced it.

In the 19th century, dancers ordered padded tights, specially made to make their calves look more seductively rounded. Much cheaper and more comfortable -- Danskin's, I hope you're reading this (and I want a cut).

You're turning up some treasures -- thank you, Anne.

I do remember reading statements (besides Jane's or comments on the board ) about expecting the "naysayers" to dislike "Napoli," but alas, I don't remember where! Thanks for the reminder about reactions to "La Sylphide" and "Giselle," Anne.

Thalnks, Anne. I've read several places about "the naysayers" and pressure -- but I haven't read any article that questioned it, or review that Perhaps they expected to be criticized for changing a work. I think the Danish press would have been disappointed if he had NOT changed it. Then he wouldn't have been "creative." (But that's just an impression.) I think that American and Danish (European?) critics look at old ballets, and perhaps we are overprotective. Many American critics view the ballet as a work with a specific theme, characters and choreography and expect to see that when they see a ballet with a certain title. In Denmark, from reading the critics, especially those who began writing in the 1960s, it seems they expect a director to be "creative" and "put his onw stamp" on a ballet. I know when I was researching my biography of Kronstam that I reads so many negative reviews of his "Giselle" (which I thought was beautiful) that complained that he was just doing a traditioanl proeuction, that there was no creativity, that he even used the sets and costumes from the last production, etc.

Moderator's hat on --

All right, please -- quit it! We don't discuss the discussion here. Back to the topic.

Alexandra

Did anyone go? There are two reviews so far, Sarah Kaufman in the Washington Post and George Jackson in danceviewtimes:

Sarah Kaufman reviews Washington Ballet: Death by Balanchine blunt-force trauma

If anyone needs a demonstration of the stultifying effect that the national Balanchine obsession has had on new choreography, the Washington Ballet's triple bill at Harman Hall is it. Minimalism reigns. Legs hit noses. Crotches -- cranked open, screaming at you to notice -- hit a new expressive high mark.

But the choreography does not. Here's the takeaway from this program, which opened Thursday and continues through Sunday: The dancers look terrific in the bare essentials (skimpy leotards and pink tights for all three ballets). They can ooze all over the stage like warm wax, they can dazzle you with their extreme flexibility. What they do will make your eyes pop. And each choreographer -- Karole Armitage, Nicolo Fonte and Edwaard Liang, all Balanchine followers -- uses the dancers in the same way, dresses them the same way and anchors them in the same erotic-romantic dreamscape. In each work, the lighting may differ (slightly), the leotards are different hues (red in one, blue-gray in another, red again in the third) and the music is different. But it's clear that when the Kool-Aid chalice was passed around at the holy communion of neoclassical groupthink, Armitage, Fonte and Liang drank deep.

Of Melancholy

Armitage is, I suspect, trying to make a new hybrid of dramatic expression and classical dancing, the old hybrids (from 1920s balletic Ausdruckstanz to 1950s ballet/modern fusions) having passed into history. On Thursday, though, her stylization looked calculated and awkward. Jared Nelson, as the principal male, was the only one in the cast whose emotions arose convincingly from inside, from his guts. He was able to spill them out into space and at the audience. Sona Kharatian, although moving with impressive control, seemed uncomfortable embodying and displaying strong feelings. I'd like to see the corps launch into Armitage's distorted classicism after a week of consecutive performances. Cynthia Hanna, mezzo, and pianist Joy Schreier, courtesy of the Washington National Opera, performed the Brahms lieder.